Systems and methods for using thin provisioning to reclaim space identified by data reduction processes

Abstract

The invention provides a system to reclaim space identified as no longer in use and comprises a vLUN, a thinly provisioned mapped LUN, a mapping layer, and a data reduction engine. Chunks of data are stored at logical chunk addresses (LCAs) in the vLUN and are mapped to corresponding physical chunk addresses (PCAs) in the thinly provisioned mapped LUN. The data reduction engine performs a data reduction process on a first logical chunk of data stored at a first LCA in the vLUN, where the first logical chunk has a size that is a nonzero integer multiple of the size of the storage extent of the thinly provisioned mapped LUN. After the data reduction process, the PCA associated with the first logical chunk is no longer needed, and the thinly provisioned mapped LUN is instructed to deallocate the PCA associated with the first logical chunk that is no longer needed.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]Embodiments of the invention generally relate to devices, systems, and methods for data storage in computer systems. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods to use deduplication, compression and / or other data reduction techniques to improve the efficiency of data storage and to reclaim data storage freed by data reduction techniques.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Enterprises as well as individuals are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. As more and more data are generated, the need for efficient and reliable data storage systems, as well as for increased amounts of available storage, is increasing. There are a variety of systems in existence today, utilizing both local and network storage for processes such as primary and backup data storage. For example, during a backup operation, the data from the data sources are copied to the backup devices. Commonly, there is a substantial amount of data from each of the data sourc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]a mapping layer disposed between and in operable communication with the vLUN and the thinly provisioned mapped LUN layers, the mapping layer defining a layout of the thinly provisioned mapped LUN that facilitates efficient input / output (I / O) access to the mapped LUN, the layout comprising:

[0016]a metadata region, the metadata region including a first portion indicating, for each LCA in the vLUN, whether the corresponding PCA for is in the first region or the second region of the mapped LUN, and a second portion providing, if the corresponding PCA is in the second region of the mapped LUN, mapping information for the LCA to the corresponding PCA in the second region, wherein the first portion of the metadata is stored in the memory of the computer system to facilitate efficient I / O access to the chunks of data stored in the mapped LUN.

[0025]implementing a mapping layer disposed between and in operable communication with the vLUN and the thinly provisioned mapped LUN layers, the mapping layer defining a layout of the thinly provisioned mapped LUN that facilitates efficient input / output (I / O) access to the mapped LUN, the layout comprising:

Problems solved by technology

There can still be multiple copies of a given file, however, even if all of the copies are compressed, because compression cannot detect or reduce multiple copies of the same file.

This technique does not, however, reduce multiple copies of the same file that can be written to storage by different users.

Typically, file-level duplication is not effective at removing files that have minor changes compared with previous versions of the file.

A downside to both file and block-level deduplication methods is their effect on read and write performance, especially when used in connection with primary data storage; block-level deduplication has less of an effect on backup data storage, because backup data storage generally is not read as often as is primary data storage.

Similarly, with conventional deduplication methods (whether in-line or post process), for an application read to a deduplicated logical device, one issue is that the location of the block(s) being read must be looked up in metadata.

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